Judges 11:29-40
Modern English Version
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and went on to the Ammonites. 30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, “If You will indeed give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 then whatever comes out from the door of my house to meet me, when I return safely from the Ammonites, will surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to wage war against them, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He struck them down from Aroer to Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel Keramim. The defeat was very severe, and the Ammonites were humbled before the children of Israel.
34 When Jephthah went to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, dancing with a tambourine. She was his only child. Other than her, he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he ripped up his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought utter disaster to me. You are my undoing, for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”
36 She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord. Do to me what has come out of your mouth, because the Lord worked vengeance upon your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Let this be done for me: Give me two months, and I and my friends will wander the hill country and mourn over my virginity.”
38 He said, “Go,” and he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went and mourned over her virginity in the hill country. 39 At the end of two months she returned to her father, and he did to her according to the vow that he had made. She had not ever slept with a man.
So it became a custom in Israel 40 that the women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days each year.
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Judges 11:29-40
American Standard Version
29 Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into my hand, 31 then it shall be, that [a]whatsoever cometh forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Jehovah’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering. 32 So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and Jehovah delivered them into his hand. 33 And he smote them from Aroer until thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto [b]Abel-cheramim, with a very great slaughter. So the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.
34 And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house; and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto Jehovah, and I cannot go back. 36 And she said unto him, My father, thou hast opened thy mouth unto Jehovah; do unto me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as Jehovah hath taken vengeance for thee on thine enemies, even on the children of Ammon. 37 And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may depart and go down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions. 38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she departed, she and her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. 39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew not man. And it was [c]a custom in Israel, 40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to [d]celebrate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year.
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- Judges 11:31 Or, whosoever
- Judges 11:33 That is, The meadow of vineyards.
- Judges 11:39 Or, an ordinance
- Judges 11:40 Or, lament
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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